Tourist Club fundraiser on Mt. Tam benefits homeless children

It's rare these days for the Tourist Club to welcome outside guests. But an exception was made Sunday for a good cause, as Home Away from Homelessness held its second pancake breakfast fundraiser of the year at the exclusive, Austrian-style alpine clubhouse along Mt. Tamalpais State Park's criss-crossing trails.

Guests gave $35 to the cause, and in return they had a choice of apple or plain pancakes, regular or veggie sausage, and a smattering of other breakfast sides.

Home Away provides support services for homeless children, mostly in their late middle school and early high school years. The services are primarily geared toward education, such as providing a space after school for the students to study — something not abundantly available in a homeless shelter or a vehicle the child's family might be living in.

"Every kid needs to go to school, to have a place to study, to eat and to have people to talk to — role models," said Home Away board president Bud Travers. "Kids who are successful (academically) have plenty of space. They not only have a desk, they have their own room."

The organization is based in San Francisco, offering an after-school program at its Fort Mason location, where children embraced by the program are expected to attend every weekday to do homework with the help of volunteer tutors and eat dinner prepared by volunteer chefs.

Home Away also has beach house retreat in the Marin Headlands, where the children are taken for afternoon trips and to take part in various activities they otherwise would not have access to, such as nature hikes and picnics on the beach.

"That's how you truly break the cycle of poverty: through education and making the world bigger for these children," said former Home Away director Sandra Niemann. "The world isn't just the dirty, grubby streets of the Tenderloin" district in San Francisco.

Home Away board member Alicia Young said the organization used to have an operating budget of $800,000. But with the economic downturn in the last six years, much of its grant money went away, dropping the budget to less than $240,000.

"We had a choice to cut the number of kids we serve or change how operate," Travers said. "We opted to change how we operate."

The pancake fundraisers don't come close to making up the difference, but each one brings in a few thousand dollars.

They also help get the word out about needing volunteers — a major lifeblood of the program. Kelly Callarman, program director for the Beach House, said Home Away has about 50 volunteers helping either a couple hours a week as tutors or cooks, or serving as "companions" one afternoon a month at the Beach House.

In addition to the cause supported by the pancake breakfast, another big draw was the event's location. The Tourist Club used to be known as a bar in the forest, where hikers and other destination junkies could enjoy a beverage at the two-story abode in Mt. Tamalpais State Park.

But the Tourist Club, which has a private membership, was closed to the public last October. So, when an event makes the spot open to the public, the public shows up.

The fundraiser "wasn't our initial motivation to come, but it's a great cause to support," said Joey Marks of San Rafael, who attended Sunday with his 6-year-old son, Andrew. "It's an added lesson, and it supports children so it's good for talking to my son about people's needs."

More than 200 people showed for the event. That followed a showing of 227 for Home Away's first fundraiser at the Tourist Club in March.

Karen Patel, who came from Chicago to visit her daughter, Megan, in San Francisco, said she had long wanted to visit the Tourist Club, so it worked out that it was open on a weekend she was in the Bay Area. And the fundraiser added to the draw.

"That was the hook," Karen Patel said. "Let's face it, if it was a fundraiser for beer, I wouldn't have come."